


Zombie7

by AgentBoo



Category: GOT7
Genre: 2jae crumbs, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Anxiety, Betrayal, Developing Friendships, Dismemberment, Enemies to Friends, Friends to Enemies, Gun Violence, Male-Female Friendship, Minor Character Death, Original Character(s), Panic Attacks, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Swearing, Violence, Will add more tags as I go, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies, lots of death, super slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:29:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25439992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentBoo/pseuds/AgentBoo
Summary: One bite, one drop of blood, one moment of weakness and you join the undead with their mindless stumbling. Half a year into the apocalypse, Zoe was just trying to survive, but then she met a boy with a smile brighter than the sun....Zombie AU
Kudos: 2





	1. Day 182

**Author's Note:**

> This is a monster of a story. I have so much already outlined and so much more to outline still. GOT7 are not idols in this, they are just regular dudes kinda. Pairings are still up in the air. Kinda hard to write about romance when zombies are roaming around. But I'm open to any and all pairings as long as I can fit them into the plot.

27 years ago, Zoe was born.

She was an accident. Her young and naive mother had an affair with a married man from a very wealthy family. Her own family were always struggling, so the lavish lifestyle of an elusive rich married man drew her in. She thought what they had was love but ultimately it was revealed he thought of her more as a fun way to pass time.

So ultimately Zoes mother refused anything from the father of her baby. She wanted nothing to do with him. She raised her child away from that side of the family. They did not live in luxury, but the young women supported them through hard work and the determination to live without him.

And while Zoes father did send money, a significant amount that would mean Zoes mother would never have to work, she refused to use it and tried to make him take it back. But he insisted that instead, she put it in a savings account for her daughter to use in the future. The young woman wanted to raise her daughter though her own hard work. Her own money. But knowing that her daughter could have backup funds in case of an emergency had her relenting.

She taught her daughter how to stand up for herself, how to be a strong woman. There was no way she was going to allow her daughter to become the plaything of a selfish man. So, she raised her to value herself, to defend herself in the face of injustice.

Zoe grew up knowing how to be independent and that emotions were a weakness. That she should use her head instead of her heart. Unfortunately, this caused her to be more on the unsympathetic side. She was not one to comfort a crying friend with a hug and soft words. A raised eyebrow and tough love were all she really knew.

So, when her mother died during the summer of her 25th year, she did not cry. She did not cry when she received the call her mother had been in a car accident nor the first morning when she woke up in their home alone. Not at the morgue where they asked her to confirm it was her mother’s body and not even at the funeral. She ignored the judgmental looks of those around her as her eyes remained dry, knowing that her mother would be proud of how she kept it together.

The savings account was not a surprise to Zoe. Her mother had always been practical, however the letter written in her mother’s will was. Instead of telling her to invest the money or put it away for emergencies only, she told her to travel, get out of the town she had lived in all her life and see the world.

Two months later she sold her childhood home and left on a plane without a single glance back.

A year after that she found herself in Seoul, South Korea. She had not planned on staying for long, eager to see the rest of the world, but plans change.

There was a virus going around but it was not fatal. Symptoms started mild, a cough, a fever, dizziness. In the more extreme cases you would get nose bleeds and tremors in your hands. But the death rate was low. Only the elderly or already sick would succumb to the first cases.

It was not until a few months later that it mutated into something else. Something much more deadly. The mild symptoms turned severe almost overnight. Bloody coughs, fever higher than the human body could handle, and the inability to stand from extreme dizziness. People started dying off faster than before and not just the elderly, regardless of age and health status the virus tore through the population.

And then the population started to tear through the uninfected.

The undead did not start re animating until about six months after the initial outbreak of the virus. The first reported case was unknown since it was hidden by authorities trying to keep chaos from running through the streets. Then suddenly clips started showing up online showing government officials shooting dead people in the head, infected flat-lining in hospitals then getting up and ripping out their doctor’s throats with their teeth.

The virus spread like wildfire. There were many theories about who started it and where it came from, but officially it came out of nowhere. Many netziens joked about curses and hexes, while others claim it was divine punishment for the worlds sin. At the end of the day, it did not matter where it came from or why we had to suffer with it, the only thing anyone could think about was how to survive it.

Over fifty percent of Earth’s population failed. One bite, one drop of blood, one moment of weakness and you join the most popular club on the planet.

Zoe was never one for clubs. So, she did what her mother always taught her. Look out for herself and survive. The rules were simple, don’t get close, don’t get bitten, aim for the head, and look out for number one.

So she did.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Zoes wake up call on her 182nd day in the apocalypse was the now familiar sound of a gun ejecting a bullet from its chamber. Nothing new really, so she rolled over to try and chase a couple more minutes of sleep. But the next shot after that had her sitting up in bed with a start and gripping the fluffy comforter tightly. The second gunshot had been much closer. Too close for comfort.

The next few seconds dragged on as she listened. Nothing but silence greeted her, so she let out a sigh of relief before leaving the bed, all hopes of more sleep had slipped away with whoever had fired those shots.

She padded over to the window that overlooked the street in from of the entrance to the hotel she was currently shacked up in. Wanting visual confirmation that all was right in the world before she went about her day.

Slowly peeling back the curtain reveled the street was very much like it had been the morning before. Deserted of life, the occasional corpse strewn along the ground in various states of decay. However, there was one new addition, a black van parked in front of the hotel, engine running and windows too tinted to see into. Not that Zoe could see much on the 5th floor.

Her curiosity was sated quickly though, as the doors opened, and a figure stepped out. The first thing she noticed about him was the large gun in his hand. The second thing was his bleached hair. She clenched her teeth as two more men stepped out and proceeded to approach the doors to the hotel, one held a bat while the other twirled what looked like a pipe.

Not needing any other motivation Zoe quickly turned away from the window and scrambled to get dressed in a pair of jeans and a worn-out black tee. The sound of the hotel entrance glass door being smashed in drew a curse from her lips as she slipped her tennis shoes on.

After grabbing her trusty scavenging backpack, she mentally scolded herself for never getting around to making an emergency get away pack. Knowing her time was limited, she grabbed the essentials first. First aid kit, insulated water bottle, map of the city, flashlight, and a handful of sanitary items for her period. Next, she grabbed a few cans of soup and her last can of spam.

While she was debating adding more food, a scream could be heard faintly from somewhere in the hotel, but it was quickly cut off by another gunshot.

Fuck the food, she thought, time to leave now.

She hurried over to the room door but hesitated. Glancing back over her shoulder she stared down the gun lying on the nightstand. After one outing for supplies she found a man bleeding out inside a convenience store. He died before she could help him, but he told her to take the gun and shoot him if he turned. He was somehow convinced that even if he died from a stab wound, he would turn. He then went on about how he did not want to become one of them, a walking reminder of humanities sin. She sat there with his body for two hours before she deemed him dead for good. It was the least she could do.

The gun had sat there ever since. She had no idea how to use or even if it was loaded.

Another shot made her flinch back into the present. Shaking her head, she grabbed the gun and shoved it in her bag. Not wanting to linger any longer, she quickly stepped out into the hallway and made her way to the east stairway.

After slowly opening the door, she paused and listened. The echo of footsteps and hushed voices had her slowly closing the door with a sweaty hand.

She pressed an ear to the door instead. Gritting her teeth, she gripped the handle tightly and listened as the muffled footsteps grew louder then suddenly tapered off as another door was opened.

Zoe waited a few seconds after the steps were gone before opening the door again. She slipped out while quietly closing the door behind her. Carefully, she peered over the railing only to see no one.

Taking this as her only chance, she quickly made her way down. Past the next two floors with no trouble. Pausing slightly at the 2nd floor when she saw the door was propped open with a body lying on its back.

Zoe stared a moment. Taking in the way the woman’s eyes were open, gazing right at her, a bullet sized hole between them. Arms reaching out for help that never came.

A boisterous laugh from somewhere past the propped open door had Zoe remembering what was at stake. Quickly stepping over the body and avoiding the blood, she carefully made her way down to the first floor, where thankfully no other bodies greeted her at the door. She quickly made her way to the lobby.

Feeling safer now that she was below them and near an exit, she took a moment to look at the status of the first floor.

It was trashed. Glass from the doors covered the ground. The artfully arranged chairs and tables were thrown askew. Roiling her eyes at the useless effort the men must have exerted to throw chairs and tables round, Zoe made her way over to the front desk to grab her emergency screwdriver stash.

Letting a rare smile grace her lips as her hand grasped the tool tapped to the far corner under the desk, she almost missed the figure making their way through the broken doors. But his annoyed sigh gave him away before he could notice her.

Taking the chance, she crouched behind the counter and held her breath.

“Yah,” the man yelled out, “How long ya’ gonna take, boss?”

He slowly steps towards the door leading to the staircase Zoe had just exited from. “Boss,” He called out again softer this time and less confident. “You guys aren’t dead right?”

When no one answer he let out a curse and started walking deeper into the hotel, turning his back on the stairway door and heading down a hallway that lead towards the pool.

Zoe slowly stood from her crouch. Screwdriver held tightly in her hand. Keeping her eyes on the back of the fourth man she slowly made her way out the lobby door, carefully stepping over the glass.

She was so focused on the previous man and making sure she avoided alerting him she did not see the towering figure stumbling around the van until it was almost upon her.

Shouting in surprise she lurched back, tripping over her own feet and landing in the glass on her left side. Ignoring the sharp pain in her arm she quickly looked behind her to see the approaching figure of the man from before.

The wild smile on his face and the creepy look in his face promised nothing good if he caught her. She quickly scrambled to her feet, dodging to the side as the walking corpse lunged at her. It lost is momentum and fell to the ground, impaling itself on numerous shards of glass. Keeping the screwdriver clasped tightly in hand Zoe quickly moved though the glass-less doors and onto the street.

She ignored his shouts and ran towards the convenience store across the street. She ignored the throbbing in her arm as she slammed the door open, then proceeded to make her way through the mostly empty shelves to the rear exit. She stumbled out the back door and blindly made a right towards the main street. Using an abandoned car to center herself, her eyes wildly glanced around the street, taking note of the lone zombie a few yards to her right, pulling its self along the ground away from her, and towards the street the hotel was on.

She let out a sigh and started making her way quickly and quietly in the opposite directions looking over her shoulder constantly to make sure the men didn’t follow her.

She passed an alley with a brick wall at the end and eyed the dumpster as a possible hiding place before deeming it too risky and continued on.

However, the moans of the dead were the only warning she got before they swarmed the street. Loud and distressing. They came from the end of the street she was walking towards, causing her to have to back pedal quickly to avoid detection. The alleyway she just passed with the dead end ended up being her temporary sanctuary.

She shuddered at the way they almost harmonized with each other, stumbling around in a deceitful dance to lure unsuspecting humans into their horde. Humans, who would then die while being eaten alive, and maybe even join their undead club.

Zoe adjusted the heavy backpack with a shaky hand as she crouched in the shadows, watching anxiously for a break in the horde to escape before they noticed her. With the way her heart was thrashing around she was surprised they had not already found her. A part of her wondered why even bother fighting the inevitable. One bite and then she could amble around the world with no fear.

The nearby sounds of what Zoe guessed was someone slamming the breaks on a car and skidding to a stop distracted her from her thoughts long enough to catch the eerily way the undead heads swiveled in the direction of the obnoxious noise.

She frowned, hoping it was not some kind of backup for the murderous men from before. But as the dead made their way down the street and started to clear the way for her, she decided to worry about that later, when she was somewhere safer than the side of the road.

The dead thinned out enough after a few minutes of passing by, just enough room so Zoe could sprint to the other side of the street. The back alley she slipped into had a gate cracked open at the end, making it easier to stop any stragglers from the horde from following her.

She closed the gate with shaking hands and took a moment to try and catch her breath and calm her pounding heart. Glancing down at her left arm she winced at the amount of glass pieced into her skin. She was surprised at the lack of pain, but she blamed it on the adrenaline from the encounter with the dead and the crazy guy.

A shiver ran down her back at the memory of the look in his eye. She could only imagine what would have happened to her if he had caught her. Now motivated by a close call she decided to put some distance between her the hotel, and the horde she now knew was headed east.

She crossed street after street, making her way west towards the Han river. Leaving the horde behind.

On her trek across the city for a safe place the adrenaline slowly faded from her system and was replaced with a steadily increasing throbbing from her left side. After a few moments of walking and trying to ignore the pain in her arm, Zoe picked a building at random to hide inside and treat her wounds.

The building was a new, and considering the décor, expensive restaurant. She was surprised the door was open, windows not broken in. She eyed the metal shutters that had yet to be pulled down with surprise. Most people closed their business before the dead started walking and if you did not get the chance before chaos reigned the street then more likely than not the business would be trashed.

But the spotless restaurant remained untouched. After closing and locking the door, she glanced up at the shutters and dismissed the possibility of her being able to reach them, especially with an injured arm. She settled with dragging a table and placing it against the door. It was no easy task with only one good arm, and it took her longer then she would have liked, but it gave her peace of mind knowing the door was blocked.

Zoe slipped off her backpack, wincing slightly as it brushed against her injured arm, and sat in a nearby chair to catch her breath. The pain at this point was almost unbearable, the throbbing increased by the minute and was joined by a burning sensation from all the glass speared in her flesh.

Grabbing the first aid kit from her bag, she used her good hand to pull of a pair of tweezers and gently pulled each shard out with a shaky hand, one by one.

When she reached into her bag to grab some water to clean her wounds with, she paused at the sight of the gun.

“Hey there.” A voice called out.

Faster than she knew she could move; she gripped the gun with her injured arm and swung it out towards where the sound of the voice came from.

Near the bar and right in front of the now open door to what looked like a manager’s office, stood a young man. Brown hair framed his face and even from across the room she could tell he would tower over her. She narrowed her eyes.

His smile was warm despite the gun aimed at him. Though his eyes glanced at it nervously.

“I’m sorry,” he said, slowly taking a step forward. “I just want to help you.”

“S-stay back,” she replied, voice horse from not speaking for weeks. “I’ve got a gun.”

He just blinked at her, his smile falling slightly before he perked up and slipped his messenger bag from his shoulder.

When he reached into the bag Zoe stood on shaky legs, ignored the way her arm burned as she held the gun tightly, and slowly backed away.

“Its somewhere in here,” he mumbled to himself as he rummaged through his bag, “I could’ve sworn I shoved it in before I left.”

She was tempted to just shoot him. Who knows what he was looking for. The obvious choice was something to hurt her, maybe even his own gun. He said he wanted to help but did he really? Or did he just want to help himself to her supplies?

An image of the woman’s body from the hotel flashed across her mind, causing her grip on the gun to tighten. She did not want to be her. But as he shook the contents of his bag on the restaurant floor muttering about needing to organize it later, she knew she did not have the heart to put him down.

After slowly lowering the gun, being mindful of her injuries, she slowly sat back down.

“What are you even looking for?” Zoe asked cautiously. He glanced up at her with a grin, a small tube of medication gripped in his hand.

“This!” he exclaimed. In his excitement to show her he tripped over his things that were now scattered around him. Flushing, he steadied himself and made his way over more calmly.

Zoe let out a few giggles involuntarily before smacking a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening in surprise. The boy snapped his head up at the sound, a smile in his eyes as he opened his mouth to say something. But then promptly tripped over another object from his bag and tumbled to the ground.

Her giggles turned into loud chortles of laughter as he scrambled to his feet again with red ears. He pouted slightly as she continued to laugh at him, but the twitching of his lips and the sparkle in his eyes said a different story. After a few seconds of trying to keep up the rouse he joined her with his own laugh, bright and full of a genuine joy.

They laughed together for a few moments before calming down but with smiles on their faces.

“Sorry,” Zoe started, sheepishly smiling as she gestured towards him, “I didn’t mean to laugh at you,” She shrugged, then winced as it pulled on her wounds, “I don’t know what came over me.”

He chuckled lightly as he grabbed a nearby chair and placed it next to her. “Its fine,” he reached down and grabbed the bottle of peroxide and clean cloth from her kit, “It broke the ice. Hopefully now you’ll let me help you?” he questioned, a kind smile on his face as he nodded towards her arm.

Zoe nodded slowly and held her arm out for him to tend. His hands were gentle as he started the painful process of cleaning the numerous cuts littering her arm. His ever-present smile faltered at the sound of Zoes hisses of pain but came back softer as he started talking, using it as a distraction for her from the pain.

Apparently, the restaurant had been locked down before he got here, but he had had a key and was able to get inside easily that way. When she mentioned how the door was unlocked his ears went red again and he admitted he completely forgot to lock it behind himself.

He then told her about how he was a student, a senior in a performance arts school. How it was his dream to star in a play on Broadway one day. He paused after that, his smile turning wistful and his eyes slightly misty. But then Zoe blinked, and his bright smile was back so fast she was almost convinced she imagined it. 

“Sing to me,” she said, before she could stop herself. The brief melancholy in his eyes from before spurring her on. He paused in the middle of tying a knot with the bandages he got from her kit around her arm.

“What?” he asked, while blinking with an innocence Zoe was starting to become familiar with, he quickly finished the knot and nervously folded his hands in his lap.

“Sing something for me,” she turned her head away, suddenly feeling embarrassed, “Only if you want to of course.”

He was silent for a moment, making Zoe think she had upset him somehow, so she turned her head back to apologize only to be interrupted by his voice.

To say it was angelic was not enough. He sung a quiet melody that caused her heart to skip a beat with its sad lyrics and alluring harmony. He finished his impromptu performance with a shy smile and looked at her warily.

Bringing her hand together to give him a round of applause, she was met with the reminder she still had the gun in her hand. His soft laugh and amused smile at her surprise brought a small smile to Zoes lips almost unwillingly.

As she put the gun back in her backpack, he cleared his throat nervously and shifted in his seat. Zoe glance at his face and raised an eyebrow in question to his fidgeting.

“I just realized,” he cleared his throat again, “I don’t know your name.” he admitted shyly.

“Oh,” was her intelligent response. She held out her uninjured right hand. “I’m Zoe.”

His eyes sparkled and the smile that lit up his face was bright as he gripped her hand with both of his.

“Nice to meet you Zoe. My names Youngjae. Choi Youngjae.”


	2. Day 182 part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Youngjae was just the tip of the iceberg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOT7 is coming back soon! I was inspired by them to get this out. Thanks for checking it out. Sorry its so long. I had a clear plan on where it needed to end so it kept going and going lol. Please stream Breath and all GOT7 songs if you can! Lets support our boys.
> 
> I also prolly left mistakes in here, ignore them if its simple but if its big let me know lol

**Chapter 2: Day 182 pt2**

Zoe took a moment to study the boy, or now Youngjae, as he gathered his scattered belongings and put them back in his messenger bag. His floppy brown locks surrounded his cheery face handsomely. She could hardly look directly at him, he was that pretty, even more so when he smiled. It was almost like staring straight at the sun.

She turned her eyes away with a sigh, wondering if the hordes of zombies with their rotten faces made his healthy human face that much more attractive. Even though she had had some encounters with a few living people over the last few months they had been fleeting and tense and usually ended up with someone dead.

She was honestly at a loss as to how he managed to survive this long. First, he forgets to close and lock the door after himself and then he helps her out after she pointed a gun to his head. And out of all the supplies, or junk, unless the yo-yo he just shoved in his bag was actually a pocketknife, there was not one weapon.

As he muttered to himself about re organizing his stuff, Zoe glanced at the door with the table propped against it. Eyeing the metal shutters pulled close to the celling, she turned back to Youngjae.

“The shutters,” she said, causing him to look up from his bag, “were they up when you got here?”

He opened his mouth to reply, glancing at the door, but he froze.

“Were you with anyone?” he asked, face pale.

“No,” she said with a frown, “why do you ask?”

He nodded towards the door; Zoe turned to look. For a terrifying moment she imagined that the men from before had found her and were standing behind the glass with weapons in hand and evil smirks on their faces. But the anxiety coiling inside her dissipated into a strange mix of relief and disgust as she took in the sight behind the glass.

A child stood at one of the windows. Clawing at the door, leaving tiny bloody handprints on the once spotless glass with their right hand and dragging a dismembered arm, one that obviously belonged to someone else, with the other.

“What the _fuck_ ,” Zoe cursed under her breath, trying to take in the sight of a child holding an arm that did not belong to them.

“W-we should help,” He stammered, shaky hands reaching out as he stumbled towards the table propped against the door.

Zoe leapt forward, off her chair, and grabbed his arm. She ignored the pain that shot though her arm as the movement strained the cuts.

“She’s dead,” she glanced at the child clawing at the glass, “look at her face. Her eyes even.” He looked at Zoe, face pale, and his eyes teary. He opened his mouth to reply but nothing was spoken. His brown eyes staring at her for answers.

She wanted to tell him it would be alright. That the child was only just sick, that everything that was happening was a joke, but she swallowed down the lies and said nothing.

Zoe avoided his gaze and stared at the small undead child. She focused on the white film over the child’s eyes and the large bite wound on her neck.

“Youngjae.” Zoe said softly, looking back towards him. “We need to shut the shutters.”

He frowned. “But the girl. How can we…” His eyes widened as he realized what had to happen to get the shutters down. “I…. I can’t…” his gaze flickered back to the undead girl, who had now dropped the tattooed arm and was using both hands to claw the window.

With a sigh Zoe let go of his arm and made her way to the window in front of the dead girl. She allowed her eyes to take in the sight of the bloody zombie in front of her before she scanned the rest of the street.

It was empty, suspiciously empty. The whole city had been slowly clearing up of all signs of life for some reason. Zoe thought it was odd but No signs of life or signs of the dead. The only noticeable difference to the moment before the undead girl appeared and now was the trail of blood that went from the arm on the ground to the building across the street.

“Good news is there’s only one.” She turned back to Youngjae with a forced smile. Only to let it fall as she took in his face. Frozen from fear and pale.

“The shutters,” she said again, this time with a frown, a firm voice, and hardened eyes “,need to go down.” Although his face reminded her of a kicked puppy, she didn’t have the patience to be gentle with him.

“I can’t do it alone. My arm is injured.” Zoe attempted to drag the table away with a grimace. Now that the adrenaline had worn off moving the table was harder than before. She turned back to Youngjae after struggling to move it alone.

He turns away without answering and starts pacing. He stops several times and turns to face Zoe as if to speak before he backs down and goes back to pacing. With a heavy sigh Zoe grabs his arm and sits him down in the chair.

“Stop freaking out. Whatever humanity it had is gone now.” She awkwardly patted his shoulder. “It’s not alive. Just aim for the head and move on.” He let out a huff and slumped over in the chair.

“ _It’s_ a _she_. And _she’s_ a _child_.” He whimpers out pathetically, hands clutching his hair in despair.

Zoe started at him in disbelief. “What’s that got to do with anything?” He frees his head from his hands and stares up at her.

“Everything!” He gestures toward the dead girl who was now happily clawing away at the window, determined to sink her teeth into their flesh.

“You’re not going to survive long out here,” Zoe snorted, “not with that mindset. Just think of her as small adult if that would help. Then brain her like you would any other dead person.”

He shifted uneasily.

Zoe stared him down with a frown, “ _Please_ tell me you have killed one before.”

He froze in the chair for a moment before making eye contact, lips parted to refute, then once again looking away with a pout, slumping even further.

“How the hell have you made it this far?” Zoe did not bother hiding her shock, eyes wide and disbelief written all over her face. She had had her encounters with the dead and knew what the feeling of sinking a weapon in a human skull felt like. It stuck to you, digs its claws into your subconscious to make sure you never forget it. And after just these first few moments with him she should have known he had not been exposed to that.

“I’ve just been lucky.” He muttered, the tips of his ears turning red. “There has always been someone helping me out.” He hung his head again.

She started at him. Silently willing whatever god up there that was watching to send her a miracle. He barely knew what he was doing out here. Barely knew what he was capable of. What he had to be capable of to survive. Like her, others saw him for what he was. Innocent and good. The very things that could not exist in this world anymore. Not with the dead devouring the living and the living destroying each other. Good is not meant to exist here now.

“That’s fine,” she walks over to the table against the door, “we can do it.”

He looks up in surprise at her. ”What do you mean?”

“Someone was always helping you out, right?” Zoe grabbed one end of the table with her good arm then looked back at Youngjae. She looked into his eyes and knew that the world and the future of whatever the world needed was him. Him and his goodness.

“Well, I’m here and I’m someone,” she focused her eyes on the table, avoiding looking at him. He looked up in shock at her words, feeling his gaze on her she brushed nonexistent dust off the table.

“You gonna sit there all day or what?” She said with some bite, the embarrassment creeping onto her face in the form of a blush.

He stood and stumbled over to the table. When he got a good grip, they both dragged it from the door.

“Have you done it before?” His voice was strained as he glanced between the dead girl at the window and Zoe.

“It? You mean brain a dead one? Of course I have.” She rolled her shoulders wincing slightly as the motion tugged on her injuries. “Aim for the head. Don’t hesitate.”

He took a deep breath and stood straighter. He clenched his fist and looked at Zoe, his eyes hardened with determination.

“I can do this.” His voice started confident, but his posture slowly sank into an anxious mess as he approached the glass door.

He stood stiffly in front of the window. Shifting his weight from one foot to the other and clutching his hands nervously to his chest. Zoe sighed as she gripped the door handle. Since this was the best Youngjae she was going to get now, she decided to just push though and get this over with.

The dead girl moved from the window to the door, film covered eyes staring at the two young people standing a plane of glass away. Youngjaes shuffling increased as the girl clawed at the door.

“Stop fidgeting.” Zoe said, a touch of annoyance leaking through. He jumped slightly as her words, then sent her a sheepish smile.

“Sorry, I-I’m just nervous.” He stuttered out, crossing his arms to stop from wringing his hands anymore.

“Like I said before,” Zoe said, this time softer, trying not to spook him again, “ aim for the head, or the knees, if it’s being difficult.”

“Knees, right.” He nodded, then paused, eyebrow furrowing in confusion. “What if they don’t have knees?”

Zoe opened her mouth to reply but stopped. She had never encountered that situation before. She shrugged. “Try and improvise I guess?” He laughed at that, his shoulders relaxing slightly.

“I almost failed that class.” He said with a fond smile.

“There’s a class for that at your university?” Zoe said with a chuckle, amused that he failed an improve class but considering his reactions to making choices on the fly it really did not surprise her.

“Yup.” His bright smile made her curious. Why so amused he failed a class?

She is about to ask but the dead girl at the door decided to try banging her little fist to get them. They both watch as her bloody little fist hit the window. The actions sober them from their conversation.

“Anyways,” Zoe drags her eyes away from the girl, “what do you have for a weapon?”

“Oh right! Almost forgot.” He heads into the office room for a moment them comes back with an axe. Zoes eyes widen at the weapon.

“You forgot you had an axe lying around?” Her voice was filled with incredulity as she watched him take a couple practice swings.

“You know those break in case of fire things?” He stumbled on his second swing, the tips of his ears once again turning red as he got his balance back. Zoe bit the inside of her cheek to stop from laughing.

“let me guess. You broke it.” She said dryly after reigning in her amusement.

“Bingo!” He replied with a laugh, his next couple swings were steadier, “there wasn’t even a fire.”

“Wow.” She said with an eye roll, “what a rebel.” He laughs again as he carefully approaches the door. His smile fades slightly as he fixes a stern look on the dead girl. “Ready?” He asks Zoe, with a serious tone.

Zoe hardens her resolve and nods in reply. “Let’s get this over with.” Her grip on the door handle tightens in anticipation.

“W-walk me thought the plan first.” He glanced shifted between Zoe and the dead girl.

“We open the door.” Zoe says. “I will handle that part.”

“Right step one, open door.” Youngjae nods confidently, his grip on the axe tight.

“Next,” Zoe glances at the dead one again, “ we lure the dead bastard into the door frame.”

He eyes the door suspiciously. “Is that safe?”

“Of course.” She huffed at him, not happy that he thought her incapable of such a small task. “I may have a wounded arm, but I can do at least this.”

“Maybe we should switch? You kill it, I hold the door?” He bargained, holding out the axe in her direction halfheartedly.

“I’m pretty sure I don’t have the strength to do that,” Zoe raised a single eyebrow at his last ditch effort to get out of the deed, “since it’s a small fry I can jam it in the door easily, but taking her down would need more strength that I don’t have right now.” He deflated at that but clutched the axe more firmly as he continued his made-up itinerary.

“Right, next up is trapping it.” He gestured towards the door where the dead girl had shuffled over to.

“Yeah, then you kill-,” Youngjae flinched slightly at the word kill, “-err put it out of its misery?” She corrected at the end, not wanting to spook him anymore than she already had.

His only response is a sad smile and a nod. Zoe takes a hold of the door and pulls it open slightly.

The dead girl wastes no time as she pushes herself through the crack, teeth snapping together at the sight of fresh meat. Before she can get too far inside Zoe shoves the door against her body, pinning her in the doorway.

“Now Youngjae!” Zoe grunts out as she holds the dead girl in place. Youngjae goes to raise his arm but freezes as he stares at the child’s face.

“Youngjae!” Zoe snaps, causing him to flinch once again.

With a clenched jaw he nods and makes a wild swing that misses completely and hits the door right above Zoes head. She was suddenly grateful for her short height. If she were even an inch taller, she would be less one head.

“Youngjae, aim for the dead one, not the live one.” She managed to squeak out, while her heart made a good attempt to burst through her chest.

“I’m so sorry!” He said, face pale and eyes shining. He opened his mouth to probably go on a string of apologies, but Zoe cut him off before he could start.

“Don’t be sorry, be focused.” She nodded her head towards the girl.

He nods and aims true. Hits the girl in the head and splits her skull open. She stops moving instantly. Zoe eases off the door and lets the girls body hit the ground with a soft thud.

They take a moment to watch her, just to make sure she was down. When its clear she would not be getting back up, Zoe pulls the axe gently from her head and passes it back to Youngjae. He takes it without a word and shuffles back as Zoe carefully pulls her body outside. As she drags the dead girl out she notices something sticking out of her back, half hidden by the girl’s hair.

Frowning she pushes the girl’s hair away to reveal a pocketknife lodged into her back, right between her shoulder blades. She pulled it out and inspected the handle. It was pretty beat up and worn from much use. The handle even had writing carved on the top.

**_JB_ **

“I know that knife.” Youngjae whispered, eyes wide in surprise.

“Is it yours?” She asked as she stood and handed him the knife before going back inside the restaurant. 

He followed her back in and watched as she began getting her things together.

“It’s my friends.” He said softly, as he looked it over in his hand with a sad smile. “This place was the rendezvous in case we got separated.”

“Why this place?” Zoe asked, suddenly remembering he said he had the keys to the door. “Did you used to work here or something?”

He gave her a cheeky smile as he pocketed the knife. “Or something.”

She rolled her eyes in response and turned away from him as he laughed at his own joke.

“Hilarious.” She said dryly, drenching the word in sarcasm. It only made Youngjae laugh harder.

Zoe bit her bottom lip to hold back the chuckle that lingered in the back of her throat as she placed her bag on a table close to the door for easier access incase she needed to make a quick exit. As she settled her bag down, she glanced out the window once more to check for anymore dead people.

Her eyes were met with the same empty street, save for the blood trail from the building across the way. Her eyes widened as she realized that the dead girl must have come from the building and she had a pocketknife stuck in her back. She turned to Youngjae and opened her mouth to tell him her theory that his friend could be alive, but she paused, suddenly hesitant about letting him know her theory.

She frowned, confused about her hesitation. Yeah, she could admit it was nice to talk to an actual person, especially someone who still felt like a human being and not a broken survivor. The thought of giving him up to be reunited with his friend and leaving her in the dust settled in the back of her mind and clung to the last of her humanity like a lifeline. She did not want to be alone. Not anymore. Not after meeting him and realizing that good still can exist in this dead world. But who was she to make his decisions? To decide whether he should be reunited with his friend or not.

She watched him with a solemn smile and a hint of amusement as he gathered his own belongings, his bag and axe, and placed them next to her own bag. When he was done, he graced her with one of his signature smiles that made the world a little brighter and immediately she knew what she had to do.

“Youngjae, we should check out the building she came from.” Zoe nodded towards the building across the street. He tilted his head with a confused look on his face that remedied her of a puppy.

“Why?” He asked.

“The knife in that girls back was your friends right?” He nodded as he dug it out of his pocket. “And she came from that building.” She raised her eyebrows at him, waiting for him to connect the dots.

He frowned for a moment, then his eyes widened, and the hint of a smile began to form on his face as he realized. He turned to go out the door, but Zoe grabbed his arm before he could race across the street with no plan.

“Not so fast.” She grabbed his bag and shoved it into his arms. “Don’t leave without your stuff.” She grabbed her own bag as well and placed it on her shoulders, grimacing slightly as it rubbed on her injured arm.

“Why take our things?” Youngjae asked as he waited for her next to the door.

“What if we get trapped in there? What if we find him and he’s injured? What if he’s not in there at all but somehow a horde of infected assholes block our path back here? Too many what ifs. Best to just be prepared for the worst and fully equipped.” She picked up the axe as she spoke. It was heavier than she expected but having such weapon made her feel safer than just her screwdriver, which had disappeared somewhere between grabbing it at the hotel and meeting Youngjae. She walked past him and out the door.

He pulled the door closed behind himself and locked it then flashed her a grin and thumbs up. She turned away from him sharply to hide her smile and Youngjaes only response to that was a quiet chuckle as they made their way across the street to the other buildings front door that was ajar.

As she pushed the door fully open, a wave of a horrid stench caused her stomach to clench and eyes to burn. The building appeared to be apartment complex, mailboxes lined the right and left side of the wall and a lobby counter that had dark dried blood smeared all over the counter. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, they could see a few bodies lying on the ground, flies buzzing around the decomposing corpses.

“What the _hell_ is that smell?” Youngjae exclaims through his hands, now covering his mouth.

“Shh!” Zoe hissed at him, not liking the way his voice echoed throughout the dimly lit room. She turned to scold him but a groan from behind the counter froze her.

“Youngjae….is that you?” A voice weakly called from behind the counter, Youngjae sucked in a breath and before Zoe could stop him, he rushed behind the counter. After a quick glance around to make sure the coast was really clear, Zoe followed him behind the counter of the lobby. She held the axe in her hands with a firm grip, taking comfort in the weight of the blade.

“Jaebeom-hyung!” Youngjae exclaims in distress. “I thought you were dead.”

As Zoe makes her way next to Youngjae, she sees a distressing sight. A young man, apparently named Jaebeom, sitting on the ground behind the counter his back slumped against the wall. His right hand was covered in blood, bright red and shining, clutched onto his left wrist. It was covering something and that something was bleeding. She stiffened up as she watched Youngjae crouch down next to his supposed friend.

Jaebeom was handsome. Even with his shoulder length dark hair matted to his forehead with sweat and left eye swollen in what looked like the beginning of a black eye. Zoe glanced between Youngjae and the injured man. How she managed to bump into such pretty boys at the end of the world both baffled and amused her. She watched the way Youngjae pushed Jaebeom’s damp hair out of his eyes and Jaebeom’s fond smile as Youngjae spoke to him in hushed whispers and wondered how they knew each other.

“You’re burning up Hyung.” Youngjae muttered as he attempted to wipe the sweat from Jaebeom’s face. His only response was a low groan as the injured man closed his eyes.

“Zoe, what do we do?” Youngjae asked frantically, glancing up at her with wide eyes.

With a tired sigh she joined the two behind the counter, crowding the small space. Zoe took Jaebeom’s hands in hers, pausing slightly at his wince.

“What are you doing?” Youngjae asked. She did not spare him a glance or bother answering him as she gently pulled the stained hands apart.

She was expecting a bite. But instead there was just an ugly gash across the back of his hand and wrist, inflamed and oozing out a steady stream of blood and what looked like clear pus.

“Huh,” she grunted, “wasn’t expecting that. Thought it might be a bite. It’s just a bit infected.”

Youngjae sucked in a breath, “What do we do?” He repeated, voice barely above a whisper as he stared at the open wound.

Before Zoe could say anything the sound of a car door slamming followed by voices talking and laughing came from the entranced.

Youngjae moved to look but Zoe grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. She held a finger to her lips in a silent plea for him to stay quiet. They sat as still as they could as the door was opened, and the sound of heavy footsteps echoed though the room. Zoe suddenly had flashbacks to earlier that day. She prayed that this would not be a repeat of that.

“Too bad you let that bitch from the hotel get away.” A voice said mockingly.

Zoe decided in that moment to never pray again.

“Fuck you Vader.” Another voice replied, “She was too quick and there was an infected.”

The one now named Vader laughed. “Snake, you let a bitch get away from you. That’s pathetic.”

“Don’t let Ling Ling catch you talking like that,” Snake replied stiffly, “She’ll cut your balls off.”

Vader let out a low chuckle at that. “Yeah, right. She’s gonna be too busy praising us about the supplies we bagged from that nightclub.”

Their bantering tapered off as they went further into the building. Zoe took a risk to peek over the counter and was relived to find no one else in the room. She turned to Youngjae.

“We gotta go.” She whispered, grabbing onto Jaebeom’s uninjured arm, forcing him stand. Normally she would have left him behind since he was obviously going to slow them down, but the way Youngjae looked at him before compelled her to make the extra effort to bring him along.

The three of them managed to stumble out of the building onto the street with minimal trouble.

“They left their van running.” Youngjae says, nodding towards the familiar black van. The tinted windows from the front seats rolled down to show empty driver and passenger seats. The other windows were tinted so dark it was impossible to see inside. Zoe suddenly had an awfully bad idea. She dug though her bag until she found the gun.

“Youngjae, open the van door.” She stood in front of it, her gun aimed towards the door. Youngjae opened his mouth to protest but he saw that look in her eye that told him disagreeing with her would not work out well for him. So, he swallowed his words and gently ;et go of Jaebeom’s arm.

“Can you stand on your own hyung?” Youngjae started into Jaebeom’s hazy eyes and only moved away once he nodded his head in reply a beat later. Moving away and leaving Jaebeom standing a few feet away from Zoe but out of harm’s way, he went to the vans sliding door.

He moved his worried brown eyes toward Zoe and waited for her signal. She took a moment to adjust her stance before she gave him a nod.

Youngjae pulled the doors open then quickly rushed back to Jaebeom. Helping him away from what he thought would be a gun fight. But there were no gunshots.

Zoe stood in the same position, only her gun was lowered, and her expression had changed from the no nonsense glare to a very unimpressed look.

“I guess this is what they meant by ‘supplies.” She said with a sigh. Youngjae and Jaebeom shifted slowly to stand beside her.

Two pairs of frightened eyes stared at them. They were both around the same age as Youngjae. One was a young man with long legs a mop of floppy black hair nearly falling into his eyes. The other had short hair, bleached white. They were both tied up and gagged. For a tense moment no one moved. The two men stared at Zoe in shock while she stared right back at them with disappointment.

The sound of an approaching car from another street broke the hold they had on each other.

With a curse Zoe ushered Youngjae and Jaebeom into the van, quickly shutting the door before the new vehicle drove into their street.

Glancing out the rear window, she watched as the van came to a stop and a familiar man with bleached hair step out of the driver’s seat. Seeing him this close instead of from the fifth floor did nothing to improve his looks. One thing she was wrong about was his hair, it was not bleached like she believed before but appeared to be naturally blond. He was obviously not Korean, his looks leaning more towards European, a scowl that looked permanent was twisting his face unpleasantly.

She ducked down as he stalked inside the building.

“Ahh, finally.” An unfamiliar voice said quietly. She turned to see Youngjae untying one of the two unknows. Youngjae flashed him a quick smile as he pulled the pocketknife out and began to saw the ropes off his wrists. “I’m BamBam. You may have heard of me. I’m sure my people will give you a good reward for getting me back safe.” The other guy rolled his eyes and mumbled something behind his gag.

BamBam shot him a disgusted look. “I didn’t _ask_ for your opinion _Yugyeom_.” He practically spit the other guy’s name out. Youngjae pulled Yugyeom’s gag down.

“And _I_ didn’t _ask_ to be tied and gagged like an _animal_.” The now ungagged Yugyeom hissed as he glared daggers at BamBam.

Zoe raised her eyebrows and made eye contact with Youngjae. He only shrugged in response.

“Uhhh DamDam, who are your people?” Youngjae asked in a whisper, a hesitant smile on his face. Yugyeom let out a quiet chuckle as Youngjae got Bambam’s name wrong and Bambam’s face flushed red.

“It’s _BamBam_. The rapper? Sold out world tour? Face of Gucci?” He looked around the van with an incredulity look on his face as none of the passengers seemed to recognize him.

“Just answer the question.” Jaebeom huffed, his patience with the new stranger very thin.

“W-well, I have a safe house, a penthouse really, for emergencies. I thought you were the team sent to take me there.” He stuttered out his response under Jaebeom’s intense glare, beads of sweat blossoming on his forehead.

Zoe turned to look at the driver’s seat then back at BamBam.

“Do you know the way there from here?” Zoe asked. BamBam peeked out the window to glance at the street name.

“Yeah, from here it’s not that far-,” he ducked back down with a squeak, “-they’re coming back!” he whispered tensely.

The men from before, Snake, Vader and the European guy come strolling out of the building.

Zoe jumps in the front seat, dragging BamBam with her and shoving him in the passenger seat with an indignant squawk.

“I can drive!” She quickly snapped her seatbelt in and slammed on the gas and ignored the shouts from the guys in the back of the van. “Just tell me the way!”

**Zombie7Zombie7Zombie7**

“I thought you said you could drive!” Bambam’s voice was shrill and angry as Zoe cut a corner and bounced off the curb. Trying to put as much distance between them and the van chasing them.

“I said I could,” she swerved around a stumbling zombie and knocked a side view mirror off an abandoned car. “Never said I was any good at it!”

Whatever he was going to say in reply was lost as the back window was shattered and bullets whizzed past their heads to also destroy most of the windshield as well.

“Which way!” Zoe yelled above the gunfire and panicked yelling in the backseats.

“Left! It’s the next left!” BamBam screeched out from where he had thrown himself down between the passenger side seat and dashboard.

She spun the wheel, and the van took a sharp left at the next street. She glanced at the buildings they were speeding by. Clothing boutiques and fancy restaurants lined the street. The street that was quickly ending.

“BamBam-” She started but interrupted herself as she forced to make a right turn as the streets end came much quicker than she anticipated, then slammed to a stop as the road ended shortly after. She reached down and grabbed BamBam by the collar of his shirt and yanked him up, so they were face to face.

“Where the _hell_ are we?” She hissed at him, her face murderous. His face was pale as he fumbled with his pockets before bringing out a small black square object. He pressed it firmly with his thumb and it lit up.

The wall in front of the van started moving upwards revealing itself to be the entrance to a parking garage. Zoe glanced in the review mirror to see that the van chasing them had yet to make the turn. She gripped the steering wheel tightly as the garage door made its way up.

The sound of the other van pulling up on the shopping street pushed Zoe to ram the gas pedal before the door had fully risen, scraping the top of the van to get though. Bambam pushed the device again as soon as she was clear, the door closing behind them. He directed her though the dark parking garage until the van’s engine made a sputtering sound and started to decelerate.

Zoe eyes the distance towards the door Bambam was gesturing to before stopping the van.

“The vans done for.” She stepped out of the van and jogged around the front end to the sliding door. She opened the van door and gestured towards BamBam, who had already fled the van and was halfway to the building’s door. “Let’s go. Follow that guy.”

Youngjae nodded and after a quick glance at Jaebeom he scooped the axe up and stepped out. He took careful steps towards BamBam who was holding the door open. Zoe went to follow.

She glanced back to see Yugyeom practically dragging Jaebeom to the door. Falling back to stand next to Jaebeom’s side, she swung his left arm over her shoulder. Yugyeom nodded his thanks with wild eyes as they stumbled towards the door Youngjae held open. They were almost through, the bright walls of the stairway calling her to safety. Yugyeom managed to slip though first, the space too narrow for all three of them to squeeze through. Just as Zoe was about to escape the dark parking garage something snagged the back of her shirt.

She was yanked back and separated from Jaebeom in an instant. She could feel his fingers try and grasp her sleeve as she tumbled back into the darkness.

Zoe closed her eyes, expecting teeth, expecting pain and death but instead she felt cold metal against the side of her head.

“D-don’t move, or…or I’ll kill her.” Zoe blinked. The metal pressed against her temple trembled slightly when he said kill. The arm around her neck held her desperately like she was a lifeline. He was desperate. Desperate and scared, a shitty combination.

“Let her go _now_!” Youngjae appeared in the doorway, voice warped into anger, a scowl on his face. And although she had not even known him for a full day, she knew it was not something he was usually capable of. A part of her warmed at his anger in her defense. Another part of her was just confused. Why and how did he care enough about her to want to fight some stranger with a gun for? If he knew all the things she had done to survive would he still fell the same?

“Give me the keys to the van and I’ll let her go.” the stranger took a few more steps back, towards the van and further from the door. Youngjae made a move to follow but Jaebeom surprisingly pushed him out of the way and stumbled back into the garage. He said nothing as he stalked towards the stranger and Zoe, the intense look from before back.

“S-stay back!” The stranger tightened his hold on Zoes neck and back up until the back of his knees met the open doorway of the van and making him fall back.

Taking advantage of the stranger stumbling backwards into the van and silently thanking Yugyeom for not closing the van door, she grabbed the hand holding the gun with one hand and elbowing the stranger in the ribs with her other arm. His hiss from the elbow digging into his bones was music to Zoes ears as the surprise attack lessened his hold on the gun and allowed her to knock it somewhere inside the van.

Zoe and the stranger struggled against one another, his hand fisting in her hair at one point only to be countered by Zoe digging her fingers in his eyes. The only option for her was to fight with everything. The only thing more dangerous than the dead were the living. She was proof of that. As she struggled to get away from the stranger, she recalled another van with other people, good people, it had started with a tense stare down and ended with blood and only Zoe left alive. She could still feel the hot fresh blood on her hands, splattered on her face, staining her clothes. She could taste the bile and blood on her tongue. Could still hear the screams. She fought harder with those memories swirling inside her.

They fumbled around for a few seconds until they were forcibly separated by new sets of hands that Zoe also fought against.

“Zoe stop its me.” Youngjaes strained voice said into her ear as she struggled against him. She turned wide eyes to his face. For a moment she saw someone else. Someone who was dead. But then she blinked and came back to the present. “It’s okay, you’re okay now, take a deep breath.”

She frowned at his words. She was breathing and everything _was_ fine. She opened her mouth to tell him so but realized she was hyperventilating. Starting to panic she stared up at Youngjae with wide eyes. He put his hand on her shoulders to steady her better.

“In and out, deep breaths.” He instructed her calmly, taking deep breaths and giving her a small smile when she copied him.

Behind her she could hear the sounds of a struggle. Turning around she saw Yugyeom holding the stranger down as Jaebeom tied his hands together through the rolled down window of the passenger seat.

“Please no! I wasn’t really going to hurt her!” The stranger wailed, voice echoing off the dark walls of the parking garage. “Don’t leave me down here with _them_.” Zoe frowned at that.

“Who’s ‘them’?” Youngjae asked shakily. The stranger’s eyes turned to him, his gaunt face red from the effort he was exerting to escape from Yugyeom’s hold.

“The dead.” As soon as the words left his mouth a groan could be heard coming from somewhere in the dark garage.

They all froze as the lonely groan was soon joined by many others, coming from what felt like every direction.

Youngjae moved his hands from Zoes shoulders to turn her around and gently push her towards the door where BamBam stood pale as a ghost with Youngjaes axe in his hands. Yugyeom grabbed Jaebeom’s arm and started to drag him away, their pace much slower.

Without looking back Zoe and Youngjae rush though the door and fall to the ground a few feet ahead. Zoe looks behind her to tell the guys to block the door but Yugyeom and Jaebeom were no where to be found.

BamBam stood in front of the door, his back pressed against it and hand on the door handle, preventing it from being opened.

“Where are the others?” Zoe asked, hoping she had just missed them running past her or into another room but the banging on the door behind Bambam told her the truth.

“That injured one fell and t-there were a lot of the dead things….I did what _anyone_ would do-” He did not get a chance to finish his sentence as Youngjae stood up and shoved him to the ground. Zoe scrambled to her feet as Youngjae yanked the door open and Yugyeom rushed through, dragging Jaebeom with him.

They were almost though before a bloody hand snatched Jaebeom’s arm back into the darkness. His scream said everything as both Yugyeom and Youngjae dragged both Jaebeom and the dead one attached to his arm like a leech through the door. Zoe slammed it shut when they were all the way inside and fumbled for the door’s deadbolt for a moment before finally locking it.

The scene she was met with when she turned around was grim as Youngjae crouched over the infected man and repeatedly stabbed him in the head with the pocketknife, tears streaming down his face. Yugyeom and Bambam were in each other’s face, screaming about whose fault it was and Jaebeom was sitting there staring at his hand in shock, watching as blood flowed out of the nasty bite on his left hand just below his thumb.

She looked away quickly from the wound and found herself staring at the axe lying on the ground. Forgotten in the mess of events. She glanced back to Jaebeom’s bite and suddenly had a very bad idea.

Her day has just been full of those.

Grabbing the axe, she pulled Youngjae to his feet and shoved it in his arms. He took it almost on auto pilot. She turned away after a quick glance at his face, not being able to take the bleak look for long.

Her eyes went to BamBam next, a wave of anger surfaced as she contemplated using the axe on him in that moment but instead grabbed his arm roughly.

“What floor.” She spat angrily at him, barely holding back her rage. He had the decency to point to a set of elevators next to them.

“I’m at the top, just have to put my pin in.” He said weakly. Zoe tightened her hold on him.

“Yugyeom, take Jaebeom inside.” He nodded at her words and after a dark glare towards BamBam he gently helped Jaebeom into the elevator. A small part of her was both curious and very grateful that he followed her instructions with no argument. She pushed that thought away as she turned toward Youngjae.

“Youngjae get in.” Her voice was quiet as she gestured to the elevator. He stumbled inside where Yugyeom had sat Jaebeom down with his back against the elevator wall and slid down to kneel in one of the four corners.

Zoe ignored Bambam’s wince as she dragged him into the elevator with a tight grip, her nails digging into his arm though his shirt. She shoved him towards the elevator buttons after passing through the elevator doors. After watching him put the pin in she waited until the doors shut before turning to face the others.

They were all scared and pale and disheveled. She almost decided not to go through with her idea but one glance at Youngjaes empty expression and wet cheeks reminded her it was worth it.

She kneeled on the ground next to Jaebeom and took his belt off.

“Give me the axe.” Youngjae did not hesitate to hand the axe over, the tears streaming down his face did not stop for a moment while he sat there limply.

She glanced away from him, not having the time to give comfort. She pushed Yugyeom’s hands away from the bite and tied the belt around Jaebeom’s arm, below his elbow.

“What are you doing?” Jaebeom’s voice asked hoarsely, fear coating his words. She did not answer, instead turning to Yugyeom’s pale face.

“Hold him down.” He stared at her, not completely processing her words until he glanced at the axe she had picked back up. He hesitated for a moment before he nodded and held Jaebeom’s left arm steady, the bite and gash from before oozing more blood as pressure was taken off.

“Wait,” Jaebeom grabbed at Yugyeom’s hands holding his left arm in place, “No, don’t do this! No!” Zoe ignored him and looked at BamBam cowering in the corner of the elevator staring at them in shock.

“Hold him down.” Her tone was cold as she glared at BamBam, “It’s the least you could _fucking_ do.”

He flinched at her words but followed her instructions, kneeling by Jaebeom’s right side and holding him down as much as he could.

By this point he was completely aware of her plans and was fighting with everything he had to stop the two boys from holding him down. He thrashed around spitting expletives at the three of them.

Zoe ignored his fury and raised the axe above her head and took a deep breath before she brought the axe down to meet the elevator floor.

The elevator dinged as it reached the penthouse floor, but it went unheard as Jaebeom’s screams filled the air.

**Zombie7Zombie7Zombie7**

Miles away a young man sat elegantly in a fine leather armchair. A novel balanced in his lap. Classical music could be heard playing in the cozy library. He glanced up to take in the view from the floor length windows to a high fenced backyard that he knew to span roughly two arcs of land.

He stood from his seat with a deep sigh. Unable to keep his attention on his novel, which he set down in his now vacant seat. He closed the distance between the chair and window. His gazed shifted from tree to tree until it landed on just one. The tree was larger than the others around it and had much sturdier branches. His dark eyes moved from branch to branch until they landed on the sturdiest branch. He followed the branch from the body of the tree to a set of ropes tied midway.

They once held a homemade swing, a seat forms from a thick cut of wood. Now the ropes were severed, and the seat lay on the ground. While one side of the swing’s ropes hung limply and torn the other had been converted.

From the sturdy branch a noose swung heavy and loud though it made no sound.

The young man sighed as he eyed it a few moments more before turning away from the window and walking over to a calendar that hung on the wall right beside it.

He crossed off another day then eyed a circled date with a smiley face written on it.

“Two weeks.” He whispered. He glanced out the window once again, melancholy brown eyes taking in the noose and the broken swing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can anyone guess who the last guy was? If you guess right you get a high-five lol but please let me know what you think or if its weird or whatever. Feedback would be nice but if you want to just lurk thats 100% okay too. Also this my first time writing in 3rd person. Let me know how much I suck at it pls lol

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know your thoughts on the first chapter! I wanted to give Zoe some details about why shes the way she is and give her a bit of a personality before i get into the meat and potatoes of everything.


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